San Diego Promise: Free tuition program for community colleges expanding

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8/CNS) — More first-year community college students will now benefit from a local free tuition program.

On Monday, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance Carroll and San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten announced the expansion of San Diego Promise which allows first-time, full-time students to attend tuition-free community college.

City, Mesa and Miramar colleges waive tuition for the initiative, which began as a pilot program in 2016.

San Diego Promise served 186 students its inaugural year, 700 students in 2017 and it's expected to benefit roughly 3,500 students in the upcoming school year. Program funding will be bolstered by California College Promise, a similar statewide program that was signed into law in October.

Constance Carroll and Cindy Marten stopped by News 8's Morning Extra to discuss San Diego Promise and opportunities for students:

As the Holy Fire continues to wreak havoc on parts of Riverside and Orange counties, animal shelters in the impacted areas are making room for lost pets. To accommodate an influx of displaced dogs, some of the canines who were already in those shelters have been transferred to San Diego.

As the Holy Fire continues to wreak havoc on parts of Riverside and Orange counties, animal shelters in the impacted areas are making room for lost pets. To accommodate an influx of displaced dogs, some of the canines who were already in those shelters have been transferred to San Diego.

A wildfire that investigators believe was deliberately set just west of San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one of three to erupt in the area in as many weeks, prompted evacuations and forced the closure of a stretch of the rural highway that fronts the popular wild animal exhibition grounds.

A wildfire that investigators believe was deliberately set just west of San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one of three to erupt in the area in as many weeks, prompted evacuations and forced the closure of a stretch of the rural highway that fronts the popular wild animal exhibition grounds.